Chicken Fajita Nachos {with REAL cheese sauce!}

We love to eat at Mexican restaurants. It’s one of the easiest types of restaurants for large families to eat at. You get chips and salsa in the beginning when everyone is starving and you can easily share meals.

One of our favorite Mexican restaurants makes a Fajita Nachos. You can choose steak or chicken (we usually get a mix) and 4 of them will feed our family! But, as much as I love eating out, and as economical as it is being able to feed us all for a fairly low price, I wanted a way to make these nachos at home. I also wanted a way to make them Trim Healthy Mama friendly, and just plain good for you!

Well, I succeeded!

First of all, let me tell you what inspired me to try this at home…

I ran across a recipe for all natural cheese sauce on Food Renegade. I was impressed with the results, and used this sauce for things like cheese toast (toasted bread with a cheese sauce drizzled over it) and as the cheese topping for horseshoes (a loose meat, french fry and cheese concoction some friends introduced us to after they took a trip through Illinois.)

So, because of that cheese recipe, I had something to work with for making my beloved Chicken Fajita Nachos a THM S meal…except they weren’t really “nachos”. To eat these as an S, you have to leave off the chips:

Now, don’t get me wrong, these are YUMMY! What’s not to love about onions, peppers, chicken, and ooey-gooey cheese?!

But, let’s face it…some days, you want the crunch of the chips melting into sogginess as they sop up the cheese. You want the melding of onion, pepper, chicken, cheese, AND corn chips nibbling at your taste buds! You want an E meal that can really be called Chicken Fajita NACHOS.

And that means, you have to leave the full fat cheese behind. But how?

This is how…

This cheese sauce takes the concept of “Creamless” Veggies from the Trim Healthy Mama book and applies it to making a sauce that is E friendly. It uses chicken broth and spreadable cheese, nutritional yeast, and glucomannan to bind it together. And amazingly, it converted some of my kids to the E side! That’s right – they chose my E Cheese Sauce over the S cheese sauce!

Are you begging for the recipes yet? Here ya go!

Oh wait…a quick service announcement: To make these uber quick and easy, buy your meat already diced in the bag. Our local Aldi sells frozen diced chicken breast meat in a 22 oz bag for $5.49. Our Aldi also sells Organic Blue Corn chips. No, they are not baked, so not “technically” on plan, but close enough for my taste.

Ok, back to the recipes. I’ll give you the S version and the E version…

Saute’ the peppers and onions in a large skillet over medium heat. Once the veggies begin to soften, add in the diced chicken breast and cover. You can add fajita seasoning here, but I really, really, really like the flavor of onions and peppers unadulterated, so I don’t season at all.) Turn your heat to low so you don’t overcook the peppers and onions and end up with mush. Put a lid on it too – it will keep its color better.

Create a binding agent by whisking together the egg yolk, arrowroot and 1 Tbsp milk. Set aside. In a saucepan, warm 1 cup of cream and 1 cup of milk over medium heat. Once heated, add binding agent, and whisk until it begins to thicken. Turn the heat to low, and throw in the cream cheese and whisk like there’s no tomorrow. Then, stir in the grated cheese followed by the diced tomatoes and green chilies (if desired), remove from heat, and build your “Nachos”! (note: this cheese is best hot off the stove, so don’t delay!)

Blue corn tortilla chips (baked is necessary to be fully on plan, but they are super hard to come by. The chips I buy from Aldi are organic and have a carb count of 16g.)

Saute’ the peppers and onions in a large skillet over medium heat. Once the veggies begin to soften, add in the diced chicken breast and cover. You can add fajita seasoning here, but I really, really, really like the flavor of onions and peppers unadulterated, so I don’t season at all.) Turn your heat to low so you don’t overcook the peppers and onions and end up with mush. Put a lid on it too – it will keep its color better.

In a small saucepan, warm the chicken broth. Whisk in the spreadable cheese wedges (I buy mine at Aldi). When the sauce is smooth, add in the nutritional yeast (this lends a cheesy flavor and yellowish color). Lastly, sprinkle the glucomannan across the top of the sauce and whisk in. Continue to whisk until the cheese sauce thickens. Add in the diced tomatoes and green chilis if desired, and turn heat to low. Grab your blue corn chips and start building your nachos! (Again, this sauce is best warm, so don’t delay!)

So, there you have it! Let me know if you try them, and which one you liked best!

Saute’ the peppers and onions in a large skillet over medium heat. Once the veggies begin to soften, add in the diced chicken breast and cover. You can add fajita seasoning here, but I really, really, really like the flavor of onions and peppers unadulterated, so I don’t season at all.) Turn your heat to low so you don’t overcook the peppers and onions and end up with mush. Put a lid on it too – it will keep its color better.

While your meat and veggies are cooking, start your cheese sauce:

For S Cheese Sauce: Create a binding agent by whisking together the egg yolk, arrowroot and 1 Tbsp milk. Set aside. In a saucepan, warm 1 cup of cream and 1 cup of milk over medium heat. Once heated, add binding agent, and whisk until it begins to thicken. Turn the heat to low, and throw in the cream cheese and whisk like there’s no tomorrow. Then, stir in the grated cheese followed by the diced tomatoes and green chilies (if desired), remove from heat, and build your “Nachos”! (note: this cheese is best hot off the stove, so don’t delay!)

For E Cheese Sauce: In a small saucepan, warm the chicken broth. Whisk in the spreadable cheese wedges (I buy mine at Aldi). When the sauce is smooth, add in the nutritional yeast (this lends a cheesy flavor and yellowish color). Lastly, sprinkle the glucomannan across the top of the sauce and whisk in. Continue to whisk until the cheese sauce thickens. Add in the diced tomatoes and green chilis if desired, and turn heat to low. Grab your blue corn chips and start building your nachos! (Again, this sauce is best warm, so don’t delay!)

Thank you!! My kids have been begging for chips and queso. Pre-THM we had a healthy recipe we loved, but hasn’t made an appearance in months. I’m not sure why I never thought of just eating the meat/cheese/veggies for my hubby and I. The E version is brilliant. This weekend is my hubby’s birthday and those just might hit the spot! ????

I had no idea horseshoes were an Illinois thing, and I’ve lived here my whole life. Okay, maybe that’s why I didn’t know it was an Illinois thing. I also only recently learned Avanti’s and Giordano’s aren’t national chains. The risks of living in the same place your whole life. :)

Thanks for the recipe! The ladies at THM are now saying you can eat the baked tortilla scoops by Tostitos as a sub for the baked blue corn chips. I use those now since we have a Sam’s Club near us. Trader Joe’s is almost 200 miles away. I’m making this recipe soon!!!!

Hi Amy! Blessed as always to read your posts and yummy recipes!! It amazes me that you carve out time for such good dinners….. We have two children, the same exact ages as your oldest two, a boy and a girl, and I try to make different dinners, but often, fatigue takes over…I am such an early morning person that by 5pm, I am beat sometimes..haha Anyway, my husband is manager of an Aldi store so I know all about these ingredients and buy many of them. But…what is glucomannan? I know I could google it, but you are more fun to talk to :) ((smiles))
your frined, Julie in MO

I’m guessing since you mentioned in your beginning comments that you used glucomannan, you simply forgot to change the arrowroot powder to gluccie. Perhaps you were interrupted (provably more than once) while writing the recipe.

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Just 11 short days after this photo was taken, our 5th child, Emily, died. To read her story click on her picture. To find resources for grieving families, visit The Grieving Mother section of this site.